M&Ms
by Aphrodite100
Summary: One Muggle item started it all. Ginny and Draco were no longer sworn enemies. They bonded over a secret. Draco looked past a girl's financial status and Ginny looked past a boy's reputation. But how was this possible? One-shot.


_**M&Ms**_

Ginny copied down spells and focused solely on the sheaf of parchment on front of her, trying not to let the imposing date of the OWLs enter her mind. She gave a frustrated sigh as her chocolate eyes blurred from staring at the words inked into the parchment.

She got up and stretched. Quickly casting some charms on her books, quills, and parchment to prevent anyone from touching them, she went to her dorm. She summoned a small brown bag and returned to the library. She dug through her pockets, found a broken quill, and transfigured it into a small white bowl. Tearing open the package, she poured the contents of it into the bowl. She grinned at the sight of the multiple colors. They always made her fell better.

---

Draco groaned. He had an excess amount of homework plus he had make-up work from being sick the week before. This sucked. He sighed, put on a neutral expression, and strolled confidently into the library. Looking around him, he groaned again. Two empty seats; it was between sitting next to Scarhead Potter or the Weasel's sister, Weaselette. He picked the Weaselette. Setting down his books angrily, he pulled out his chair and seated himself.

"What the heck do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" Ginny spat out icily.

"Drinking some tea with the Queen of Australia, that's what. What does it look like I'm doing, Weaselette?" Draco replied sarcastically.

"Okay a) Australia doesn't have a Queen. B) I meant why are you sitting with me? Or rather don't sit with me. I'm trying to do some actual work."

"Whatever. And either I sit here or with Potter over there and I didn't particularly feel like setting the library on fire, so I'm sitting with you. You don't talk to me, I won't talk to you, and everyone's happy."

---

Ginny groaned inwardly. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. Besides the fact that she was sitting _with_ Draco Malfoy, _she_ was sitting _Draco Malfoy. _What were people going to think? What would Harry say? Not to mention her brothers. They'd kill her! Oh well, at least she had the Bat-Bogey Hex on her side. Every single student at Hogwarts and all her brothers were terrified of that. Even Fred and George were afraid of her armed with a wand.

---

Draco glared at the table. His eyes swept across the wood, not looking for anything in particular. But what he did see made his eyes stop in disbelief and stare at Ginny. His only weakness, a secret he held on for life, were the Muggle chocolates by the name of M&Ms. He would give anything for some, even just one, right now.

---

Ginny looked up at Draco. Wait a minute. Why was he staring at the table? She followed his gaze…to the bowl of M&Ms.

"Uh, Malfoy," Ginny tested to see if he was listening.

"Yeah, Weaselette?" Draco snapped his attention to her.

"Why are you staring at the M&Ms?" she asked suspiciously?

"Erm, because…they…look pretty?" he said as if it were a question.

"Right. They look pretty. Why hadn't I thought of that?" Ginny mock-berated herself.

"Look, I've got work to do. Just leave me alone."

Ginny raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Ok ferret. Whatever you say," she agreed, drawing out the 'whatever'.

---

Both teens went back to work, not exchanging words. An hour passed. There was only one M&M left. And it just happened to be a blue one. Even though it was childish to like one color over the other, he specifically liked the blue ones. Merlin, was this girl trying to drive him crazy? Teasing him with his favorite color M&M, a tantalizing blue sphere of chocolaty goodness. Just as Ginny's hand reached distractedly for it, Draco made one of his split-second decisions. His hand flashed out, snatched the candy out of the porcelain bowl, and dropped it on his tongue. A smirk came across his lips as he waited for her reaction.

First shock. Then rage. Then confusion. Why would Malfoy eat an M&M? They were Muggle chocolates, not a part of the Wizarding World.

"Did you just eat my last M&M?" Ginny asked in a careful and dangerous voice.

"Yep. And it was good." Draco made a show of swallowing and made sure to wipe his lips. "Why do you have M&Ms anyways?"

"You know what they are? Hermione happened to have some at the Burrow a couple years ago. I tried some, I was immediately addicted, and ever since then Hermione's always made sure I have a secret stash of them. What about you?" Muggle candies for the high-and-mighty Draco Malfoy? I'm surprised. Shocked actually." Ginny leaned back and waited for an answer.

"Yes I know what they are. Do you know Nymphadora Tonks?" Ginny nodded at this. An _almost_ sad look crossed Draco's face. "When I was younger, we used to be friends, but-"

"You had friends? Wow, I'm impressed, Malfoy." Ginny interrupted. Draco glared at her.

"Yes and I still do. _Anyways_, we used to be friends. Best friends. You know she's a Halfblood right? No? Well, her dad's a Muggle. And so once, when I was five and she was eleven, Father was yelling at me- actually that happened on numerous occasions- he sent me up to my room. He said I couldn't have food for two days."

Ginny looked at Draco in horror. "Two days!? He's starving you! He can't do that! Not only is it cruel, but surely it's illegal!"

"Don't be so surprised. Think back to other things my father has done. It's actually not that 'cruel' of him, at least not compared to a lot of other things. And I highly doubt legality was his priority. Regardless, I was to remain unfed for two days. But I didn't. Tonks could Metamorphagus even before she knew of her powers, so she disguised herself as Mother and walked right through the front door. I saw it all from the window of my room. She entered my room as Mother and then transformed back into Tonks. Well, I was young, hungry, and happy to see my best friend and cousin. She came in without a word and started dumping out candies on my bed. There was a large variety of them, both Muggle and Magic candy. Then she said, 'Eat up, I know you're hungry.' I did. Among the candies were M&Ms. I was thoroughly entranced by the taste and fascinated by the colors of the hard shells. Ever since then, M&Ms always remind me of our friendship. Maybe that's part of why I like them so much. Of course, she hates me now," Draco finished. He averted his eyes from Ginny's. Moments later, he looked up again, trying to guess what she was thinking. It seemed to him that her face would never betray her emotions. Nor would her eyes.

---

Ginny was shocked. For a moment, she stared at Draco, not really thinking. She tried to convince herself that this wasn't true, that he was only making up a sob story. But a part of her believed him. He had told the story with so much sincerity and had been so heartfelt, that a part of her trusted him. The look on his face was unmistakable when he was talking about his friendship with Tonks. After a minute she decided to follow her instincts. The problem was that she didn't know what her instincts were telling her. She looked at Draco again; _trust him_, her heart told her. _Ok_, Ginny thought. _I'm going to try this and if he hurts me, I'll Bat-Bogey him into next week. _

"Um, firstly, I believe you. I don't know why, but I do. That was really sweet of Tonks. And admittedly, that's a cool way to discover M&Ms. Much more interesting than my story," Ginny said.

Draco smiled, and there was only a hint of coldness in it. Ginny quite liked it when he smiled. It made him look…handsome…almost likable. "Thanks. But I'd rather it your way."

"Can I ask you something? It's a little personal and I understand if you don't want to answer."

"Well, you kinda already did, didn't you? But, yes you can."

Ginny blushed. "Oh, yeah. Well, uh, why aren't you still friends with Tonks? Like, what stopped it?"

Draco thought a moment. "Well," he said slowly, "I suppose it's because of our values and such. For instance, she supports Harry Potter, and always has, even growing up with me. Also, she fell in love with Lupin, and werewolves aren't exactly respected in Wizarding Society. Actually, she liked him even when he was in school. I remember her gushing over him to me. I was bored to death and young so I thought it was the grossest thing ever," Draco smiled faintly here, "And, of course, my parents taught me to hate anyone who associates with 'bad company'-even if they're family.

"She also started to become distant with me. She's six years older than me, remember? I suppose as she started growing older, she thought it uncool to hang out with a child. And of course then she was sorted into Gryffindor and everyone knew I would be a Slytherin. It's not exactly acceptable for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to be friends, is it?" Draco reminded her.

"Well I think all the House- hatred discrimination is immature. A Slytherin and a Gryffindor are perfectly capable of being friends. Like, for instance, you and me," Ginny blushed as she let this slip.

"We're friends?" Draco inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I should certainly think we were, considering you just spilled one of your darkest secrets to me!"

"I did no such thing!"

"You did and don't deny it. You wouldn't have even told Crabbe or Goyle that," Ginny said.

"I guess your right. But no one can find about this friendship. If they do, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Deal," Ginny agreed. "Except you owe me M&Ms."

"Fine," Draco said. And Ginny swore he almost laughed.

"Why don't you laugh more often?"

"What is this, the third degree?"

"I'm serious. Why don't you laugh?" Ginny pressed him.

"Because there's nothing to laugh about."

"Nothing to laugh about?" Ginny repeated. She stuck out her tongue, crossed her eyes, spelled her hair to stand up on end, stood up, and started doing the chicken dance around the library. Needless to say, this got Draco's (and everyone else's) attention. Then she transfigured a nearby book into a stuffed-animal and waltzed around the room with it. Draco kept a straight face for about a nanosecond, and then started giggling. And within a minute, he was belting out full guffaws of laughter.

Ginny sat down and smoothed out her back-to-normal hair. "How was that for funny?" she asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Harry was glaring at her and Draco. _Deal with it, _she thought. She was allowed to be friends with whomever she liked.

Still shaking with laughter, Draco nodded. After a minute his laughter subsided, but his normally pale face was abnormally red. "That. Was. Hilarious," he chuckled.

"You're all red. Guess you're not used to laughing, huh?"

"At the Manner, there's nothing really to laugh about."

"What about here at Hogwarts?"

"Well, you know, in public, I'm…well, you know how I am."

"Cold? Heartless? Cruel? Stone-like?" Ginny suggested, her tone light.

"Yeah," Draco agreed.

"Look, don't be like that. I…I'm not proud of this, but I like you like this. When you're laughing and smiling and talking to me and stuff. I like this side of you," Ginny said, blushing. She looked down and let her hair fall down into her eyes. She peeked up and wondered what he was thinking.

---

Draco stared at her for a moment. He thought a moment. When she said, "I like you," did that mean that she like-liked him? As in crush-liked?

"Um, I like you too," he whispered. He looked down at his hands shyly.

---

Ginny looked up. Her fiery hair parted to reveal her sparkling espresso colored eyes. Shyly, she whispered, "As in…like-like?"

"Yeah. As in like-like."

Ginny looked at him. How could she like him? She had almost admitted to him that she liked him, but she's only known him for an hour. And she wasn't even sure this was the real him. This could be a cover. She sensed a movement and focused her gaze on the Slytherin across from her. For once, his eyes weren't in the shadows, and she could clearly see the blue-grey color in them. _Like the wind_, she though, subconsciously. And in that moment, she knew he wasn't lying. She knew that he had just poured out his heart to her in the last hour and that he was completely honest. She knew he was serious about liking her.

She took a deep breath in. "Ilikeyoutoo," she said in a hurry.

"What?"

"I like you too."

"Good." Draco smiled. "In that case, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Only if you give me a pack of M&Ms every time I go on a date with you," she smiled.

"Deal. Come with me for a walk?"

"Of course…If I get the M&Ms," Ginny agreed slyly.

The couple got up. On impulse, Ginny wrapped her arms around Draco's body. For a moment, he froze. _I'll bet he doesn't get hugged very often_, Ginny thought. Then, slowly, his arms came around and held her closer to him. Ginny turned her face to his neck and inhaled his scent. He leaned down and buried his face in her thick hair.

_And to think, this all started with M&Ms_, Draco thought.


End file.
